Fish and Letters
by In2lalaland
Summary: A love letter arrives ten years too late. It's a story about reunions, developing feelings and what not to put in an aquarium. 2x5 AU
1. Chapter 1

1/2

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Fish and Letters

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It all started with a surprise visit.

Duo had just gotten back from work, barely having time to drop his bag down on the floor when his doorbell rang.

Not really up for any visitors, he reluctantly dragged his feet over to the front door.

On the other side stood none other than his brother, Solo. "Hey bro. Just stopped by for this." The older man said, holding out a stack of magazines.

Duo took the bundle with a look of confusion when he saw the cover. "Skateboarding? I haven't used a board in years."

His brother looked slightly guilty. "If you check the date on them you'll see that you actually were using it then."

Duo glanced down at the glossy cover. "Why are you giving me ten year old magazines?"

"Because they're yours. I used to nick them out of the mail box before you got home."

Duo glared, he did remember missing several issues, "Why?"

Solo shrugged. "No reason. Just to piss you off."

"You are such a fucking ass man."

"What ever." The man shrugged again liked he had heard the insult a thousand times before. Which he had. "I was cleaning out a wardrobe and figured I'd return them."

"Geh, thanks." Duo said drily. "Anything else you would like to return? All the money that went missing from my piggybank perhaps?"

"No, not really." With that, the other man left, leaving his brother standing in the hallway with a stack of ten year old skateboard magazines.

With an annoyed sigh Duo kicked the door closed behind him. It was just like his brother to do something like this. Just a few weeks ago he had showed up with a DVD version of one of Duo's favorite movies that Solo had once taped over. Having a pregnant girlfriend was totally fucking with his brother's head, that much was clear.

Duo turned and walked back into the living room, kicking his backpack aside from where he had dropped it in the middle of the doorway.

The magazines soon landed with a heavy thump on the coffee table.

Duo sighed. He should cook something for dinner but he really wasn't in the mood. It wasn't that he didn't like to cook, he did. It was just that it always felt so pointless to prepare food just for himself.

Instead he walked into the kitchen, grabbed a beer and sank down on the couch with the bottle in his hand. He had a microwave pizza in the fridge. That was going to have to do. Leaning back he lifted his feet up on the table and accidently pushed over the heap of magazines. Cursing, he leaned forward to catch them before they all could slide down on the floor.

He grumbled as he put them back into a neat pile. He should just throw them away. Who cared about something that hadn't been up to date in ten years?

Sipping his beer he picked up one of them, lazily flipping through it.

He smiled when he saw the article about the _upcoming_ star Adrian Damon, who Duo hadn't seen since he took home the championship for the fourth time in a row a few years ago.

He picked up another one, smiling at the nostalgia that hit him as he flipped through the pages. He had never been a very good skateboarder. He had spent most of his time falling on his ass as he tried trick after trick. One more stupid and dangerous than the next one. Was there any wonder that his friends used to call him 'the god of death' for the amount of times he should have broken his neck but somehow never managed to get anything worse than scraped palms?

He flipped another page to continue reading the article he had started on when something gently fell out of the magazine and landed in his lap. At first he thought it was just one of those advertisers for subscriptions, but then he realized that it was actually a letter. An honest to God letter in an envelope and everything. In times of emails and text messengers, real paper letters were rare.

He picked it up and turned it over. It had his name and his parents address on it but the lack of stamp told him that it had been dropped off by the writer.

Feeling curious, he pushed his pinky in at the corner, cutting the envelope open.

He couldn't remember the last time someone actually sent him a letter. Unfolding the paper he found he leaned back to read it.

He froze as the first words registered.

"Holy shit." He whispered as he read it. It was a love letter.

And it wasn't a love letter from just anyone. It was from a friend who he hadn't seen or heard from since he graduated. Wufei Chang.

"Holy shit." He repeated as he leaned forward in shock as he read on.

The letter had been painful to write, that much was obvious. Every third line contained an apology for the things he felt. It was a letter written by a desperate but naively hopeful teenage boy in love with the forbidden. Another boy.

It was heartbreaking, awkward and oh so honest.

He put the letter down on the table before leaning back heavily, eyes still stuck on the innocent looking piece of paper. Duo had never given Wufei any romantic thoughts. He had barely acknowledged his bisexuality while he was still in school. Wufei had just been another friend in a pretty big gang of friends that hung out all through their school years.

Thinking back, he tried to think of everything he could remember about him. Wufei had been a pretty quiet but nice guy. A skinny kid with kind of dorky glasses and his hair always in a tight little pony tail in the back of his neck.

Duo couldn't remember ever getting even a hint that Wufei was interested in him.

Shit.

Duo hid his face in his hands.

And since he had never gotten the letter, Wufei must have taken it as a rejection.

A very painful rejection most likely.

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Duo hadn't been able to sleep all night.

Twisting and turning he thought how Wufei must have felt after sending that letter. The anxiety and the fear for how he would react. Only to get no reaction at all. Duo thought about how Wufei must have felt as he showed up at school day after day without getting an answer.

Duo could remember too well how it felt to love someone at that age. How horrible it was to watch the one you loved at a distance unable to do anything. It was only worse when it was another boy. To feel like you were going crazy with love on top of knowing that your crush would most likely find you disgusting if he found out how you felt. But Wufei had done something that he had never had the guts to do at that age. He had confessed not only his sexuality, but his crush as well.

And Duo had unknowingly walked all over his heart.

Duo squirmed, his bedding twisting around his legs. The whole thing might have been out of his control but he couldn't help but feel guilty.

Kicking the duvet off, he got up, his bare feet walking across the chilly floor and over to his computer. He waited impatiently for it to start up, knee bouncing as he watched the screen.

As fast as he could, he had a search engine up and searching for Wufei Chang. He soon found him, and he was pleased to see that Wufei was still living in town, not far from the office where he worked. Wufei also appeared to own some kind of store called Atlantis located in the same building, but Duo couldn't find any information on what kind of store it was since it appeared as if Wufei didn't have a homepage. What kind of store owner doesn't have a homepage? Everyone needed a homepage.

Writing the address down on a scrap of paper, Duo went back to bed. He fell asleep promising himself that he was going to visit Wufei directly after work.

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The next day had passed impossibly slow and Duo had spent far too much of it glancing down at the time in the corner of his screen. It didn't help that he had very little work to do since he had just finished his last project. He sketched on a few ideas he had for an update on one of the webpages he was responsible for, but didn't put a lot of effort into it. Instead he glanced down at the clock over and over again until he could swear that it had stopped moving.

He was really nervous about seeing Wufei again, especially with a ten year old love letter as the reason. He didn't have a clear plan of what to do. He just knew that he had to talk to his old friend about it.

Then when it was finally time, Duo shut down his computer, pushed his chair back and then he was gone. Out the door, down the stairs, across the parking lot and into the car. With a finger tapping restlessly against the wheel, Duo drove the two blocks separating his office building and Wufei's store. Every second that passed was making him more nervous, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. With the letter crinkling in his nervous grip, Duo parked the car right outside and got out.

The store was in the basement under a hair salon. It had a large sign next to the stairs that led down to the door. On it, the store name was in big bold letters on a blue background where several types of fish were portrayed.

"A pet store." Duo mumbled, trying to remember if Wufei had any pets when they were kids. He couldn't really remember, but now that he thought about it, he could faintly remember an aquarium that had been standing in the family's living room. He had only been over at Wufei's house a few times and it had mostly been to play video games in his room but he was pretty sure he was right.

Taking a deep breath, Duo realized that he was stalling and started walking down towards the door.

At least Wufei was still gay. A small pride flag sticker was glued on the door next to several other stickers that announced that this shop was approved by the Aquarium Association, The Tropical Rescue Group and the D.O.V.E, whatever that was.

A small bell rang as he pushed the door open and stepped in. The air in the store was heavy and moist and the sound of pouring water was all around. There were no windows only fluorescent lamps shinning down upon row after row of aquariums. Smaller ones were placed on top of each other, covering every free space along the walls. It was like stepping into an underwater world. Atlantis seemed like a very fitting name of the store

He walked further in. There was no one behind the cash register and he peered down the closest corridor of glass boxes, trying to catch sight of someone.

"May I help you?" A voice spoke from behind him and Duo spun around, coming face to face with a man who could be none other than his old classmate. And one thing was for sure, the guy had grown up well. No longer a skinny little teenager, the man in front of him looked fit and confident. His hair was still long but fit him much better than it once had and the small 'V' shaped goatee on his chin gave Duo the urge to nibble. Yum.

"Wufei." Was all he managed to say.

The man grinned. "Well I'll be damned, Duo Maxwell. Should have known it was you. I never meet another guy who braided his hair."

Duo smiled self-consciously, reaching back to touching the base of the braid that nowadays was long enough that he could tuck it into the back of his pants.

"What can I help you w-?"

"I didn't get the letter. The one you sent while we were in school." He cut in, startling Wufei. "Well, I got it, but I didn't get it until yesterday."

Wufei looked embarrassed. "Oh that." He awkwardly cleared his throat. "Might have been just as well. That particular setback taught me a lot."

The way he said it told Duo that Wufei sure hadn't learned anything that made his life any brighter.

"So you came all the way just to tell me that?" Wufei gave him a twisted smile.

"Yeah."

"Thank you, it was… soothing to know that I wasn't being rejected by being ignored."

"Probably wouldn't have ignored you if I had gotten it." Duo found himself mumbling, suddenly feeling like he was a teenager again, awkward and easily embarrassed as memories started to flood back. Memories of being fifteen years old and having his world revolve around one person without really understanding why. "But unfortunately you wouldn't have stood a chance anyways. I was too hopelessly crushing on Heero."

Wufei laughed. "So I wasn't so far off after all."

Duo smiled self-consciously. "No, I guess not. But I wasn't really out back then." Duo wondered if his teenaged self would have had the guts to respond to Wufei's letter.

Probably not but it was a nice thought

That they could have gotten together when they were teens, explored all those awkward, terrifying and oh so fantastic things that came with being a teenager. He might even have ended up with one very hot boyfriend.

Because at the moment he was very aware of the guy they had once teased for being the shortest of them all was now just as tall as he was and if he just leaned forward just a little bit their lips would be in perfect height.

"I was just about to close up, you want to grab some dinner?"

"Yeah, sure." Duo agreed.

Wufei went in through a doorway behind the checkout and a moment later he returned with a jacket and a heavy set of keys. After locking up both his office and then the front door they left the store, strolling down the street in the early evening sun.

They ended up in a restaurant close by, a homey and quiet place that Duo immediately fell for. The relaxed atmosphere was doing wonders on his poor nerves and as they sat down at a table by the windows, Duo knew he was going to enjoy himself.

"So what do you do nowadays?"Wufei asked a few minutes later as the waiter went off with their order.

"Web support mostly, but also some Web design." He said, wishing it was the other way around. Getting phone calls from stupid people who really should read a manual before they touched anything more complicated than a hairdryer was not something he wanted to endure. He would rather create something and work on the codes to make the web pages run smoothly than ask people if they had made sure that their modem was plugged in.

"Never really got into computers." Wufei said, wrinkling his nose slightly.

"You don't have a webpage." Duo observed, the tone of his voice betraying the disbelief of the statement.

"No and I really don't want one." Wufei leaned back in his chair as he put his elbow up on the backrest, giving Duo teasing half smile."It's not worth the hassle, most of my customers are regulars after all and they know where I am."

"But you could reach out to so many more people if you had one. People who might live outside of town or have never been in this part of it." Duo tried to convince him, half a second from offering to make him one.

"I have the best assortment in the city." Wufei said confidently. "I don't need to reach out to get new customers, the new customers come to me."

Duo wanted to argue but he recognized the stubbornness of someone who resented all technology more modern than a calculator. He was almost surprised that Wufei's store even had a credit card reader. It was probably just as well that Wufei didn't want a webpage or he would just get another agitated guy calling him up.

"So have you had the store for long?" He asked instead, taking a sip of his glass of water.

"About five years now and before that I worked there with the previous owner for about two years." Wufei responded releasing a thoughtful sigh. "Seven years, has it really been that long since graduation?"

Duo grinned. "Crazy right? The years just flew by."

"They did." Wufei agreed with a pleased smile. "It's good to see you again Duo."

"Yeah, you too." Duo said. "I've only kept in touch with Heero you know."

"How is he?" Wufei asked, glancing out through the window as a group of young men walked by, laughing and shoving each other, looking for a second exactly like their old gang.

"Social as ever." He replied, making them both snicker on their old friends behalf. "He joined the army after graduation and that taught him to at least answer questions people gave him ."

"Heero Yuy, a soldier. Now why does that sound like a match made in heaven?" Wufei grinned.

"It does, doesn't it? He made a perfect soldier." Duo shrugged. "He wanted to be a pilot but when he failed the eyesight test he decided to quit."

"And now?"

"Now he's back in school to be a veterinarian."

Wufei gave him a look of surprise. "A veterinarian?"

"Yeah, there was something about a little girl and a dog while he was stationed abroad. Long story but it made him want to be one." He leaned forward and with his elbow on the table, rest his head in his hand, smiling gently as he thought of his friend. "It actually fits him pretty good because while he's not really good with people, he's really good with animals." And that was how the antisocial Heero managed to find a girlfriend who didn't mind the silence and the social awkwardness. One lost dog in the woods, two people under a tree as the rain fell and Heero had found his soul mate. It gave him hope, that if even Heero could find someone, so could he.

"Always good to know." Wufei said, fingers coming up to stroke the small beard. "You never know when you might need a veterinarian when you own a pet store."

Duo didn't respond, his eyes getting stuck on the carefully styled goatee. He knew he had a soft spot for facial hair, but that little V on Wufei's chin was just insanely sexy. A shiver of desire vibrated through his chest, working its way lower as blood started to travel the same direction.

Luckily the waiter came over with their order and distracted him before he could embarrass himself.

It really had been too long since he had gotten laid if something as simple as that got him going.

Looking away from the distracting temptation, Duo turned his attention to his food as he tried to keep his thoughts clean and just enjoy the company.

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Duo sighed, staring blindly up at the ceiling while his feet that were resting on the living room table absently tapped against the pile of magazines.

Two days had passed since he had gone to see Wufei and he had been thinking of the other man non-stop since then. He wanted to go see him again and maybe ask him if he wanted to catch up some more, maybe grab some dinner again… maybe ask if he was single.

It's been almost a year since he last took an interest in dating, getting dumped by someone you loved would do that to you. But maybe it was time now, to move on with someone new.

Wufei had been so easy to talk to, their conversations had moved effortlessly from topic to topic without ever halting into awkward silences or pointless talking to fill the gaps.

It had been a relief to realize that he could still speak to someone as easily as he had. He fucking hated what he had become since the bastard had walked out. Just a few years ago he had been a social butterfly, going to parties and hanging out with friends and lovers.

All it had taken was one guy, one fucking guy to make him shield away from potential lovers. Made him lose interest in making new friends and hanging out with the ones he had. A lot of them had been giving up on him when he kept turning them down when they invited him along and when he stopped answering his phone because talking just felt like such a hassle nowadays.

But he did feel like talking to Wufei.

It felt promising that he felt that way but he was apprehensive to follow this interest. Because, while he logically understood that he couldn't stay stuck this way and that the only way to move forward was to open up and let someone in, his heart still hesitated.

There was only one person he could talk to about this and Duo picked up the phone to call his best friend.

"Yeah." Was the short, disinterested response as the call was answered.

"Hey Heero, remember Wufei?"

"Chang?"

"Yeah."

"Hn."

Absently pulling on his braid, Duo got to his feet and started walking back and forth across his living room floor, suddenly feeling restless. "I, um well long story short. I met him a couple of days ago. Did you know that he was gay?"

"Hn."

"Me neither. I wish I had known back then. Would have been nice to have someone who understood."

"Hn."

"Yeah, well you're not exactly someone I would talk about guys with, now are you?"

Heero snorted. "And we are doing _what_ right now?"

Duo rolled his eyes. Smart ass. "Whatever. He's got a store not far from where I work, sells fish for aquariums. His parents had an aquarium right? In their living room. I'm pretty sure they did but I can't remember for sure."

"Hn."

"Okay, never mind. We had dinner together, talked about old times and made fun of you a lot."

"Hn."

"Well stop making it so easy then." Duo chuckled before turning serious. "Wufei was a nice guy when we were kids right? Not the type to make rash decisions and take commitments lightly, right?"

"Hn." The thoughtful noise, followed by a quiet pause as Heero gave the question some thought made Duo bite his lip in anticipation. "Wufei was a good guy." His friend said finally.

Which was Heero's stamp of approval.

Duo felt some of the tension he was carrying around drop away. Heero knew how much he feared getting burned again. Opening up to someone only to get it all thrown back in your face hurt so damn much and Duo felt too… fragile to do it again. But if even Heero would speak up to vouch for Wufei, it was a good sign.

"Yeah, nice guy, a good friend." Duo mumbled, spinning his braid around his hand, giving it a restless thug.

"Hn, take him somewhere nice."

"You think I should? You don't think it would be weird or something? I haven't seen him in years after all and I never tried to catch up with him before. It might be a bit out of the blue, you know."

"Hn."

"You're right, thanks man. I'll talk to you later. Give your girl a kiss from me."

"Hn."

Duo hung up the phone, feeling pleased. Speaking to his best friend always made things so much clearer.

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As he drove towards the store, Duo thought about his childhood friend. Wufei had been the responsible one. The one who got them out of the trouble that Duo had gotten them into more often than not. He was reliable, smart and had a temper that was legendary. They used to call him the dragon because when he got pissed off he was more or less breathing fire in rage.

Duo grinned to himself as he took a right turn onto the parking lot, remembering how Wufei's anger and justice rant had made one of the meanest teachers give their project top grade instead of failing them. When the dragon roared, people listened.

Duo had been best friends with Heero back then while Wufei had been just another one of the guys. He had just always been there and Duo had never really spent any time thinking about him. But from what he could remember and Heero's input, was that Wufei was a good guy. Someone you could trust.

He stood outside the cellar door, looking at the smiling turtle logo from the "Tropical Rescue Group" and the sun paled pride flag. This really shouldn't be as hard as he was making it out to be. Feeling stupid and nervous, Duo went into the store.

He soon found Wufei standing further in with a small child and someone he assumed was her mother. Their attention was on one of the middle sized aquarium where small, slim fish with gigantic colorful tails were swimming around, curiously circling under the open lid. The little girl was pointing at the fish she wanted and it was then up to Wufei to try to catch this specific animal. You could tell that he had done this several times before from the swift moves and the short amount of time it took him to catch them with the landing net and release them into a water filled plastic bag attached to the glass.

Duo watched Wufei's ass as the other man bent over to see which fish the girl was pointing at and decided that he definitely wanted to tap that. Trying to occupying himself while he waited in a way that wouldn't give him away, Duo strolled down a parallel valley of aquariums. There were hundreds of different kinds of fish. Big and small, in all the colors of the world. Some looked like something out of a horror movie, while some he recognized from his childhood cartoons. There were fish with more fins than body mass, there were fish that looked like small sharks and fish that camouflaged themselves so well that Duo couldn't see them until they moved, tearing up sand in their wake. There was an open doorway in the back of the store and Duo curiously poked his head at the sight of more glass containers. He instantly regretted it as he came face to face with a large yellow snake that stared hungrily at him through the glass of its terrarium. Biting back a terrified scream, Duo dived back out. He _hated_ snakes. Shivering unhappily he went back to watching the harmless fish, swearing to stay away from the room in the back. Walking back the way he came, he came to a stop at one of the larger aquariums over by the register. In it, gigantic gold fish were swimming around like they didn't have a care in the world. A couple seemed to find him interesting and swam along the glass, looking at him with their big golden eyes.

He glanced over as the three other people in the store came out to walk over to the check out. Wufei gave him a happy smile when he saw him that made something like anticipation tingle inside of him. Duo smiled back as he watched Wufei wrap two water filled plastic bags in old news papers and after placing them in a plastic bag, handing them over to the mother. Money was exchanged and the woman left with a thrilled little girl following closely behind.

Wufei stepped out from behind the cash desk and walked over to him. "Hey Duo, what can I do for you?"

Duo just stared for a moment, trying to get his head to figure out what to say but all his brain function seemed to have gotten sidetracked and was analyzing how it would feel to suck on Wufei's goatee.

"I was… " Old fears rushed up no matter how hard he tried to fight them and he couldn't get the words out. _This shouldn't be so hard_. Desperately he tried to think of something to say and his eyes met round yellow eyes of the goldfish. "…kind of thinking about getting an aquarium."

"You were?" Wufei sounded very pleased by this and Duo found himself nodding. "Well, did you have anything specific in mind for your aquarium or…"

"Kind of an impulse decision." Duo confessed, shifting uneasily.

"Have you had one before?"

Duo shook his head. "No."

Wufei didn't seem to think that this was a bad thing. He simply smiled even bigger and waved his hand to gesture to the store around him. "Well then, I'll tell you all you have to know."

Duo suddenly felt like this was one of the best ideas he had ever had. "So what do I need?"

"Well an aquarium first of all, a hundred liters is a standard size."

That sounded kind of big to Duo and like it would be a lot of work. "Can't I just get one of those bowls?"

Wufei's eyebrows dropped down in a displeased frown and the air around then suddenly felt a lot colder. Duo remembered when the dragon had been unleashed on someone that had pulled his braid. Only that this time he was standing right in front of that anger. "I don't sell those, no one should." Wufei replied in a tight voice.

"Oh?" Duo said uncertainly.

"They are torture devices. A fish can't explore in it, it's too small and it keeps swimming around and around. Can you imagine walking around in a circle all your life?"

Duo wouldn't want to be stuck in a glass box at all but he could see his point. He let his thoughts wander as Wufei ranted on about animal cruelty and pop culture where people thought it was okay to put fish in glass bowls, platform shoes and god knows what else.

Duo actually thought Wufei was pretty sexy when he got this worked up and he quietly wondered how he would look during sex. Would he be just as passionate and loud then? Would his eyes burn this intensely?

"At least two sides of the aquarium has to be covered to make the fish feel less vulnerable." Wufei went on, gesticulating towards the large goldfish tank. "There should be enough room for caves or at least some rocks to hide behind and plants since it helps keep the pH value stable."

"Right. So no bowl." Duo agreed easily, giving his worked up friend a fond look.

"No bowls." Wufei echoed, suddenly looking a bit embarrassed. "It's a sore point."

"So what do I do when I have the aquarium?"

"Well you need light, a heater and a pump. Then there is the gravel in the bottom, rocks, plants and then water softener to get rid of calcium and other harmful ions in the water." Wufei smiled happily. "And then finally, fish. Have you thought about what kind of fish you would like?"

"Um, well what do you recommend?" Duo asked, not even trying to pull off any knowledge at all about fish.

"Oh there are several for beginners." Wufei tapped a finger against the sign on one of the large gold fish tanks. "You should make sure that the fish you get all come from the same lakes or at least somewhere similar or they might not be able to handle the same type of water."

Duo nodded in understanding.

"I'll tell you what." Wufei said. "I'll help you set the aquarium up and then when it's done I'll swing by with a couple of fish. It would be a surprise."

Duo smiled in relief. "That would be great." This whole thing was turning out to be a bit more complicated than he had first planned but he would get to spend more time with Wufei which would give him more time to build up a moment… and the courage to ask.

"Well first of all you need the aquarium." Wufei said stated. "Come on." He turned and led him in behind the counter and past the 'employees only' sign, into the room beyond it. On the other side was a small office with a desk, a safe, several shelves with marked boxes and a lot of folders.

There was also an empty aquarium standing on the floor next to the door that Wufei came to a stop before. "I was going to put it in storage since I didn't have any room for it but you might as well take it." Wufei said giving the tank a soft nudge with his sneaker.

Duo blinked, giving his friend a surprised look. "Really?"

"Consider it a thank you for telling me about the letter." Wufei gave him a careful, almost shy smile as he looked over at him. "It really was nice to know that you weren't ignoring me."

"Yeah." Duo said, wondering just how hurt Wufei had been by the supposed rejection.

But considering all the things Wufei had said in the letter, the way he had opened up his heart it wasn't strange that he had been hurt. That instead of giving him any kind of response, good or bad, Duo had just gone on as usual, unaware that things had changed drastically for his friend. He couldn't imagine that Wufei hadn't been deeply hurt.

This was a perfect time for him to say something, for him to ask Wufei out on a date… or just attach his mouth to his chin because Duo just really wanted to lick that goatee. Wanted to place his tongue on the bottom of that chin, drag it upwards through that short, carefully styled hair until he reached that full bottom lip.

Instead he said nothing and the moment was lost as Wufei went to find a fitting pump and heater. Duo cursed quietly to himself, winding his braid around his hand. He had to get a hold of himself.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Wufei had helped him load the aquarium and its stand into the car and then followed him home to help him fill it up.

Duo was painfully aware of the dishes in the sink and that it had been a while since he had cleaned. But Wufei didn't appear to notice as he helped him carry the aquarium inside, placing it in the living room and starting the task of putting the whole thing together. Duo mostly helped with the carrying only to stand by to watch Wufei work. Slowly a landscape started to take form and then when gravel was in the bottom, and rocks forming caves and hills, Wufei started to fill it up with a large bucket.

"Stay for dinner?" Duo asked, giving his old friend a hopeful look

"I'd love to." Wufei replied as he poured the water into the aquarium and Duo had to force himself not to be too obvious with his admiration of Wufei's arms. They were really nice arms, tanned and muscular with just the right amount of hair. The kind of arms you would like to wake up in, holding you tight.

"I'll see what I can cook up." He said, turning away. He had not forgotten why he had first gone to Wufei but the question would not pass his lips. In angry annoyance he searched through his fridge, hopping that he at least would be able to cook Wufei a nice meal. And then, just maybe he would be able to ask Wufei the things he wished to know.

He found some chicken in the back and decided to make a pie of it. Everyone likes pie, right? He did the best with what he had .

"Now we just have to let it stand for at least a day before putting any fish into it." Wufei said as he walked into the kitchen half an hour later, the sleeves of his shirt still rolled up and showing off his arms. "The temperature should be right by then."

Duo nodded as he put the pie in the oven and straightened up to look out through the kitchen doorway at the small slice of underwater world standing in his living room. Wufei really had gone all the way out and the result was truly beautiful. Duo hadn't even asked what the whole thing was going to cost him and he didn't care, it was going to be worth it.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

The next day, Duo anxiously waited for Wufei arrived with his fish.

He had prepared lasagna with homemade pasta, something that had taken him hours to get right. It was now perfectly done and waiting in the oven. Restlessly, Duo roamed through his apartment, making sure that everything was neat and ordered. The place had never been so clean, especially since he had taken half the day off from work to make it so.

Then the doorbell rang and Duo had to force himself not to run over to the front door to open it.

Outside, Wufei stood with a large plastic box in his arms.

"Hi Wufei." He said as he stepped out of the way, almost wincing at how desperately happy he sounded.

Wufei didn't appear to notice as he returned the greeting, kicked his shoes off and continued on into the living room. "I brought three types of fish for you."

"Oh?" Curious like a child he followed his friend in, watching as he open the lid of the box and started lifting out water filled plastic bags. "These as called Black Molly." Wufei said, holding up the first bag with three black fish for inspection. "I brought one male and two females." Duo who thought all three fish looked the same nodded.

"And these little bastards are called Zebra danio." Another bag was held up. "I just brought you three of them but just let me know if you want more of them. They usually like to be in a pretty big gang so if you like them I can bring you more later."

Duo bent down to look at the slim black and white fish that swam fast as bullets from one side to the next in the bag. "They look kind of cool."

"They are fast as hell." Wufei grinned. "Takes me about twice as long to catch these as any other."

The next bag was lifted out from the box. "And then some Guppy." Wufei gave him a quick smile. "These beauties are kind of classics for beginners. This type is called Red Cobra. You see how the spots on their tails kind of reminds you of a snake pattern."

"Yeah."

"I brought three of them also, one male and two females."

"Why two females?"

Wufei gave him a twisted smile. "Well they could use a break now and then. The males can be kind of intense at times." He lowered the bag into the water as he started to take off the rubber band he had closed it with. "You know males."

Oh Duo knew males. He knew how intense they could be and he knew how intense _he_ could be. He wanted to show Wufei just how intense he could be. He wanted to walk over and push his hip up against that nice looking ass, he wanted to attach his mouth to one of those wide shoulders and bite down hard into the muscled. He wanted to do so damn much.

Trying to distract himself, Duo turned his eyes away from his friend and focused on the fish. "So what do I owe you for all this?"

Wufei made a dismissive noise, waving his hand as if the chase away an irritating fly. "Nothing. The perk of being your own boss is that you do what you please."

He looked from the aquarium to his old friend. "Wufei, you can't just-"

"Of course I can." Wufei cut in. "I have made no significant financial loss if that's what you are so worried about."

"… Well if you're sure. Dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes. I'm just going to set the table."

"Perfect. " Wufei said as he placed the third plastic bag in the water, attaching it to the edge. "They need to get used to the new water so I'm going to be pouring water into their bags every fifteen minutes or so. It should take about an hour and a half."

"Sounds good." Duo said as he went into the kitchen, thinking that he was going to do his best to make sure Wufei stayed a lot longer than that. And if he just managed to get a hold of himself he might even get him to spend the night. He had optimistically bought both condoms and lube, changed the beddings in his bed and gotten a spare toothbrush… just in case.

As he set the table for two he realized that it had been pretty long since he had planned a meal like this. He barely had the energy to cook for himself and when he did, he more often than not ended up eating in front of the television.

He went and got the food out of the oven, looking over at his friend as he came through the door. "It's nice to have company." He said, cutting off the 'for once' before it reached his lips. No reason to advertise his hermit status any more than he had to.

"I agree." Wufei said as he pulled out his chair and sat down. "Living alone has its down sides."

Duo nodded and put the lasagna down on the pot holder in the middle of the table. "I still haven't gotten used to living along, even if it's been three months ago since Heero had to move out to attend another university." He said with a soft sigh. But really, it was just as well. Heero's girlfriend had started to get annoyed with his presence. Not to the point where they couldn't get along but Duo could understand the frustration of not having your boyfriend to yourself. He had visited them a month ago and they seemed to be doing well with their small apartment and gigantic dogs. He was happy for them, even if he missed having his best friend around.

Duo shook his head as he brought himself out of his thoughts and looked over at his friend who looked a bit disappointed.

"But you still see each other?" Wufei asked. "Despite the distance?"

"Well yeah of course, as often as we can. I'm pretty busy at work and Heero still has another two years of classes." He shrugged, he had gotten used to having his best friend around but he was only a phone call away after all. "He's going to come home in a couple of weeks for his mother's birthday. Maybe we could all catch up then?" Duo suggested.

"That would be nice." Wufei mumbled, clearly disappointed that he wouldn't get a chance to catch up with his other friend too.

"So do you know what the rest of the gang is up to?"Duo asked.

"Well." Wufei started as he scooped up food on his plate, taking care to not let the melted cheese fall onto the table. "Quatre is in Australia."

Duo felt his face freeze up in surprise. "Really? What's he doing there?"

"Living off his inheritance mostly and surfing. He met a girl there who owns a restaurant so he helps out there a lot. I'm just waiting for the wedding invitation to show up."

"I thought he would be running some huge company."

"Naw. He saw what it did to his father and he wasn't really interested in becoming that kind of person. He went backpacking all over the world for a while there and when he met Katelyn he decided to stay with her. They have been together for about three years now."

"What about Trowa?" Duo asked, filling his own plate.

"Works in a bank in the capital as chief of security. Last I've heard he was making good money." Wufei paused to take a bite, making a noise of approval at the taste before swallowing. "Did you hear about that bank robbery last year, where the robbers gave up after just half an hour?"

"Vaguely."

"Yeah, well that was Trowa's doing. Did something of a superhero rescue, only that when you ask him about it he downplays it like it was no big deal."

Duo snickered. "Same old Trowa. Cool as an iceberg"

They shared a smile.

"What about Treize?"Duo went on.

"Had a daughter last year, named her after that singer he liked so much, Mariemaia. He got a job at a TV station, helps decide what to put on the air and so on." Wufei took another bite, taking his time to finish it before he went on. "I tried to talk him into showing less game shows and more documentaries the last time I saw him."Wufei snorted. "Didn't do me any good. The bastard just laughed at me. But for a round of beers I did get him to promise to put in a good word for the national championship in fencing."

"Fencing. You were both into that right?"

"Yeah, not so much nowadays but we get together a couple of times a year for a match. Not that it's much of a match, the only time I win is when he lets me. Bastard."

Duo kept his smile up but somewhere in the back of his mind a haunting thought whispered darkly. It whispered that Wufei had kept in touch with everyone but him, well and Heero, but that was probably because of him too.

Wufei met them regularly, drank beer with them and expected to get invitations to weddings. Wufei had stayed in touch with his friends, he didn't let time and distance let them drift apart.

But he had stayed away from him.

Duo glanced over at the doorway and the now populated aquarium, thinking that Wufei probably thought it was a small price to pay to be able to put that smudge in his past to rest.

The disappearance of one simple letter could do so much damage.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

A/N – Next and last chapter will be posted next Friday. Until then, please take a second and leave me a word about what you thought about it. I will be very happy and do a little dance if you do.

This was a present for my very good friend Syndelar (go look up her 2x5 stories!) that took me so long to write that I can no longer remember if it was a Christmas or birthday present.


	2. Chapter 2

Warning: Men having sex.

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Chapter 2

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

The next morning Duo woke up alone. The condom package was still unopened and he had not been able to get over himself and just ask Wufei to stay. With an annoyed sigh he got up, took his cereal bowl and wandered into the living room.

Wufei had helped him name all his fish as he released them into the aquarium and Duo could remember them all.

Ruby was still chasing Penny, shaking his tails like he was trying to get rid of them. Duo could only assume that it was the fish version of foreplay.

Cedric was swimming in and out between the rocks and Libby was searching along the bottom for something edible.

The zebras calmly swam together in a calmer part of the aquarium. He couldn't really tell who was who since they all looked the same, but they were named after members from a band Wufei had liked. Bob was a very weird name on a fish.

It was kind of fascinating to watch them interact with each other. Duo would never have believed it but it seemed like they all had different personalities and habits.

He startled when he realized that he was almost late for work since he apparently had spent half an hour in front of the glass box.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

With a relieved sigh, Duo closed the door behind him, dropping his bag to the floor. It had been a long day and it hadn't helped that he couldn't keep his thoughts from straying to muscular arms and neatly cut goatees. He kicked his shoes off, then strolled over to his new aquarium. He instantly noted that something was wrong and after tapping the glass desperately and even going so far as the get his hand in the water, he decided to call Wufei.

Three signals ran out before the phone was picked up. "Atlantis, Wufei speaking."

"Cedric is biting Libby's fins off and I don't know what to do." Duo said desperately. "She's hiding behind the pump now and he still won't leave her alone."

"It's what fish do." Wufei said in a comforting voice. "They usually have someone at the bottom of the rank that they try to drive out of the shoal, but since they're in an aquarium, the bullied fish has nowhere to go."

"But- but- that's not right, you have to take her back."

Wufei made an amused noise. "Okay, don't worry. I'll show up after closing time and pick her up."

Duo breathed out in relief. "Thank you Wufei."

"You're welcome."

"Do you like tacos?"

Wufei chuckled, a sound that made shivers of delight dance down Duo's spine. "I love tacos."

Duo had to swallow to get his suddenly dry throat to work. "I'll have dinner ready for you then." He said, wishing that the next time he heard Wufei laugh like that, he would be close enough to be able to put his head down on the man's naked chest and listen to it.

"Sounds good, I'll see you later."

Feeling pleased, Duo hung up and got himself a stick. He was going to defend Penny until Wufei got there.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

The next morning found Duo staring up at his bedroom ceiling, alone in bed. Again. Another evening with Wufei had gone by without him being any closer to his goal. Wufei had been nice but he had still not said or done any move to come onto him. It was all terribly disappointing.

Duo sighed. He could always ask Wufei out on a date. He _should_ ask him out on a date. But…

Duo had never been much good at making the first move. People mostly came to him, not the other way around. He didn't know how to start or if the offer would be appreciated.

And Wufei hadn't really given any _real_ indication that he was interested. Most likely Duo had ended up in a category of old discarded crushes. The ones you could hardly believe you had once had. And wasn't that a depressing thought.

Turning over he buried his face in his pillow. Duo was never going to forgive Solo for stealing those magazines.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

As it turned out, Duo had a reason to speak to his friend just a couple of days later.

"They all got white spots on them and Jacob is dead." He said as soon as his friend answered his phone, his eyes stuck on his aquarium. He had noticed one or two spots the day before but when he had gotten home the spots had grown and the fish seemed slow and uninterested. It had freaked him out big time.

"Ah." Wufei replied calmly. "It's a pretty common illness among fish with large fins. I'll bring some medicine along after work, okay?"

Duo breathed out in relief. "Thanks Wu, you're the best. Curry okay?"

Wufei chuckled. "Curry will be just fine."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

The next day when Duo got back from work, all the fish were dead.

"Did you read the instructions?" Wufei asked when he came over an hour later, giving the slightly brown water a suspicious look.

Duo nodded. "Yeah, ten drops every liter, a hundred liter in the aquarium, so I put in a thousand drops. Might have been a few less or a few more, I lost count and I ran out of medicine in the end."

For a moment Wufei just stared, then he picked up the bottle and peeled off the price tag, reveling more numbers. _10x100_ it said… not 10x1. _10 drops every 100 liter_

"Oh no." Duo's shoulders sank. "I killed them."

"It was an accident." Wufei protested, trying to comfort him. "I'll help you refill it and tomorrow I can pick out some new fish."

Duo took a shaky breath, giving his empty aquarium a heartbroken look. "Okay."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Soon his aquarium was once again full of life and Duo had decided to really get into this whole fish thing. He was going to be a lot more careful and follow all of his friend's instructions.

In the end, the aquarium was on his mind almost as much as Wufei. He planned how to rearrange things in it, what plants to get, searched for rocks that he could put in and spent far too much time on the internet looking at pictures of colorful fish. The work on his desk got neglected as he clicked his way through a seemingly endless amount of fish, trying to remember some of what he read.

If he couldn't come straight out and ask Wufei out he could at least make sure that they had a common interest. He was going to make sure that his aquarium was perfect, to the point that he might even impress Wufei.

Duo grinned at the thought. He could hardly wait to go home to put the rocks he had found in the aquarium. He could see the fish in front of him, happily exploring their new cave. Wufei giving him a proud smile when he saw that he was taking this new hobby seriously.

He ripped himself away from his day dream as his boss walked by and he hurriedly pretended to actually do some of the work he was paid to do.

The next day, all the fish were dead.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Wufei gave the aquarium a thoughtful look before pointing at the new cave. "Where did you get the rocks?"

Duo stiffened. "Um, outside."

"Ah, well my guess is that they brought something along with them." Wufei said, pushing his sleeves up before opening the lid to fish up the rocks Duo had put in there the evening before. "Finding new rocks is all good, but boil them first next time to make sure that there is nothing lethal on them."

"Oh." Duo mumbled, feeling stupid. He really should have thought of that. "I'll get dinner started."

"That would be nice." Wufei said as he once again started to empty the aquarium.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Two days later, as the rain fell gently against his window, Duo once again found himself alone.

Unenthusiastically he pushed some leftovers back and forth over his plate. He knew he should eat but… eh, what was the point. He wasn't really that hungry. For about the tenth time since he had taken a seat, he looked over at the empty chair on the other side of the table. Eating dinner had been so much nicer when Wufei had been there.

He sighed, looking out the window at the cloudy sky. He wondered if Wufei had left the store yet or if he was in the middle of closing up. He wondered if his friend was also making dinner, eating it on his own with an empty chair on the other side of the table.

Duo sighed once again, dropping his fork down on the table as he leaned back. He should just call the other man and invite him over but that damned fear of his wouldn't let him do it.

And as nice as it was to have Wufei over for dinner he didn't want dead fish to be the only reason Wufei came by.

He had found himself a mermaid made in concrete at a yard sale the day before and after making sure to boil it carefully he had placed it in the middle of the aquarium in between two rock heaps. It made the aquarium look very professional and stylish and he hopped he would get an excuse to have Wufei over so that he could show him.

Or he could just call him.

Or maybe just drop by after work.

… Or maybe just sit around and hope that an opportunity would fall into his lap.

Duo sighed and picked up his fork. Yeah, like that was going to happen.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

The next day, all the fish were dead.

"I think I found the problem." Wufei said as he dipped his hand in to fish out the mermaid.

"But I boiled it." Duo protested from where he stood behind his friend, his braid spun several times around his hand. "_Two_ times."

Wufei sighed, putting the statue down in the bucket by his feet. "Cement is not a rock, it releases particles that is fatal to fish."

Duo groaned, hiding his face behind his wound up hair. So much for impressing Wufei with his enthusiasm for his aquarium.

"I'll come by tomorrow with new fish, okay?"

"I don't know if I should be allowed to have pets." Duo mumbled unhappily, giving the floating fish a sad look.

"Nonsense. I'll help you refill it." And Duo decided that Wufei was the best friend ever for leaving out the 'again' in that sentence.

"Thanks Wu, anything special you want for dinner?" He asked as slowly released his hair.

"Anything is fine." Wufei said, already busy with getting the dead fish out.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

A week later all his fish were disgustingly healthy and Duo hadn't seen Wufei in just as long.

Duo was not happy with them or at himself for that matter.

The fish looked up at him, Duo looked back.

This couldn't go on. He had to get over this ridiculous fear he had of starting new relationships and just ask Wufei out. And if Wufei turned him down, well they were even then, weren't they?

Duo looked at his fish, the fish looked back.

Wufei didn't seem like he was going to make the first move, or any move what so ever. It was going to be up to him to do something about this.

… He just needed some moral support.

"Yeah." Heero grunted after waiting five painfully long signals for his friend to pick up his phone.

"Do you think that if you liked someone when you were a teenager, you could still like the same person when you grew up. Not like still liking the person, more like still liking the things you liked about the person." Duo rambled, giving his hair a nervous tug.

"Hn."

"Well start thinking about it now then."

Heero sighed. "You chased him off already?"

Looking away from Bob the fourth's accusing stare he spun his braid around his hand. "That would require actually having him in the first place."

"Hnf."

"No, I haven't had a good time to do it." Duo said, pushing his lips together tightly.

"Is this about Andrew?" Heero asked in his usual relentless tone of voice.

The name made ice rip through Duo's inside like knifes. "_No_." He tried to deny but at Heero's noise in disbelief he went on. "Well maybe a bit but not just because of it."

He closed his eyes as the emotions that he tried so hard to ignore came to the surface once again. "It's just not _fair_. He's the one who asked me out. He's the one who asked me to move in with him, he was the one who proposed to me, he's the one who made all the fancy promises." Duo felt his voice rise but he couldn't stop it. "Then he's the one who throws me away like _garbage_ without an explanation and he's the one who marries some woman he barely knows and has like half a million kids in _our house_. Why should he be the one who gets all the favors and ends up happy? Why won't he feel bad for the things he did? Why am I the only one in pain? Where is the_ justice _in this?"

"Now you sound like Wufei." Heero's calm voice breaks through his anger like cold water to a flame.

Duo breathed in shakily, sinking down on the edge of the couch.

"Go find your own justice." Heero said in a surprisingly gentle voice.

Duo said nothing, staring at the bright and alive aquarium in front of him.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

This time, Duo didn't let himself hesitate outside the door to stare at the stickers. He walked right into the store. He had a strange sort of urgency moving through his body, like if he stopped to think his courage would slip right out of his hands . He had to do it now.

Wufei wasn't behind the register or in his office and as Duo got further into the store and didn't find his friend he got a bad feeling. And in the end there was only one place where Wufei could be. The room in the back.

Steeling himself for the terror he knew he was going to experience, Duo walked through the doorway.

He found Wufei standing in one of the floor to ceiling terrariums, scrubbing the fake stone wall with a rough brush. It seems to be hard work because he was using both hands, leaning onto his hold to get as much pressure as possible on it. The look on his face is one of focused stubbornness and determination. The dirt just didn't have a chance against it.

Not knowing what to say, Duo knocked against the doorpost for attention. Turning around, Wufei's welcoming smile when he saw him quickly froze as a thought seemed to strike him. "Are the fish alright?"

"They're fine." Duo replied faintly, trying not to stare. It had obviously been pretty warm in the terrarium because Wufei had unbuttoned his shirt all the way to his belly button and he looked flushed and hot, strands of hair sticking to his face. The man was too fucking sexy to be walking around like that when Duo was trying to think. And he really had to think now to figure out how to say what he wanted to say. For now, fish were a safe subject to work his way from. "I think I got the hang of it now." He said, taking a quick step away from the terrarium next to him when he saw a small red snake looking at him.

He really fucking _hated_ snakes.

He turned his attention back to Wufei who seemingly unknowing of what it did to Duo, was wiping himself down with a cloth. Duo awkwardly cleared his throat and went on. "I never had pets before, well besides babysitting Heero's girlfriend's dog someti-"

"Wait." Wufei cut in with a tight look on his face. "_Girlfriend_? You're not together with Heero?"

For a second Duo could only gape, his thoughts falling over each other as he tried to keep up. "What? _No_!"

Wufei stared back at him, looking just as confused as he felt. "But- but you said he only moved out because of school and you were still seeing each other."

"Well yes, but we were _roommates_. Heero is as straight as they come and really not my type."

"So... What is your type?" Wufei asked, meeting his eyes. And suddenly there was a tension in the air, anticipation in the stance of their bodies.

_Say something you fool!_ Duo screamed at himself in the privacy of his head but words still would not come and it was so frustrating and made him so angry at his ex for doing this to him, for making him such a coward when all he wanted to do was-

Jerking into action, Duo took three quick steps towards his friend, forcing him back into the terrarium before crashing their lips together. The kiss was wild, untamed in a way that came as a shock. Duo stumbled over a bowl of dead mice before Wufei's back hit the wall of the terrarium. Within a heartbeat they were tearing at each other's clothes, fumbling and grasping whatever they could reach.

Impatient hands got his belt open before starting on his fly while Duo focused on the last closed buttons of Wufei's shirt, pushing it off wide shoulders.

Pants were pulled down past his knees, seams breaking on his underwear as they quickly followed. Breaking the kiss to kick them off he got a good look at the man in front of him. Wufei was breathing heavily, lips wet and shining, fly open. His eyes were dragged down to the black snake head tattooed on his shoulder, slim body continuing as it showed up on his bicep, looping around the arm as the tail ended in a tight curl. Duo might just reconsider his hate of the animals because that was just hot. Sliding his hands up those strong desired arms until they reached Wufei's neck, he used the hold to guide their mouths back together. Hands were everywhere, squeezing and exploring. Fingers digging into Wufei's firm thighs he managed with some help to get the other man up on one of the small artificial cliffs, clumsily dragging his jeans down as he did so. Their lips parted only to let Duo step back to rip Wufei's pants and underwear off, a wayward shoe hit the glass as it was kicked away. Then their bodies came together, fast and rough like neither of them had the patience to wait another second.

Wufei was hard and hot against him, thighs rubbing against his hip as he rolled against him. Taking both their cocks in hand he swallowed Wufei's low groan as he jacked them both.

Wufei ripped his lips away, eyes wild as they met him. "Give me my jeans."

"What?" Duo asked in a daze.

"Jeans." Wufei panted.

Duo blinked then quickly bent down, getting a hold of the clothing in question

Wufei jerkily searched through his pockets until he uncovered a small plastic tub. Impatiently it was shoved into Duo's hands as hairy legs widened invitingly.

"Do I even want to know what this is" Duo asked as he quickly unscrewed it, looking down at the small tube that had the picture of a sad turtle on it.

Wufei responded by dragged him forward again into a messy kiss

Emptying the tube into his hand, the smooth cream was seconds later smeared over his impatient cock. Wufei put a leg up against a fake tree sticking out from the wall, giving him more room to feel along the edges of one tight looking hole. He sank two fingers in, feeling the heat and the muscles closing in around him. Wufei groaned low in his throat, a hand coming up to get a hold of an uneven part of the wall as his hip thrust back onto his fingers. Moving his fingers around for what felt like forever he pushed another finger in. It slipped in easily and as he curled all three upwards, Wufei moaned his approval.

Duo took that as all the encouragement he needed and removed his fingers, letting his cock take their place. He pushed his way in, watching Wufei's face screw up as he was breached.

"Oh fuck yeah." Duo breathed, his forehead pressed against Wufei's throat as his cock was surrounded completely.

Leaning back he watched his friend who was breathing sharply through his nose, eyes burning intensely as they met his.

"Fuck me." Was the rumbled order and Duo didn't mind following it at all. With his hands gripping whatever part of that muscular body he could reach, Duo started to move.

Quick sharp thrusts, making the terrarium shake as built up sexual tension exploded through them. Palming Wufei's ass, fingers sliding up firm thighs, spreading them wide as he pushed in deep. Rolling his hip to the sound of breathless groans and slaps of sweaty skin.

The warm light from above was warming the terrarium to a ridiculous level and Duo felt almost light headed from the heat and pleasure taking him over.

Leaning forward, he bit into Wufei's shoulder, almost expecting the snake there to bite back. The musky smell of the terrarium and the sharp one of sweat was thick in his nose and it shouldn't be as much of a turn on as it was. Placing his hands up against the rough cement wall he sped up his thrusts, slamming their bodies together like he was trying to make up for all the time they wasted on dancing around each other.

Wufei was shamelessly jerking himself off, head thrown back in pleasure, muscles twitching in those powerful thighs. One of those legs came up to wrap itself around his waist, heel digging into his ass and Duo took a hold of it to hold it up.

He could feel his orgasm come creeping but he fought it off. Not yet, for the love of all things holy. Not yet. Hungrily he attached his mouth to Wufei's chin, dragging the flat of his tongue over the V shaped beard, feeling the sharp strands against it. With Wufei's desperate breaths against his face he sucked, kissed and licked that chin that had teased him so relentlessly since he had first laid his eyes on it.

His hips didn't slow down for a second, driving his cock in deep into that soft heat that held him so tight. Taking a new hold of Wufei's thighs he lifted them high, making the other man slide in closer and then he was coming. Sudden and heartlessly it ripped through him, gripping, owning and rendering him helpless. Hips jerking without rhythm as he milked everything he could out of his completion. His breath stuck in his throat and he fought to breathe while entrancing bliss soaked through flesh.

With the echo of his orgasm still rocking through him he pulled out, sinking down to his knees and sucked Wufei's balls into his mouth.

With a broken gurgle Wufei's breath caught as his thick cock erupted. Foreskin bundling up under the head as rope after rope of cum rained down over his own chest, whole body straining against the pleasure. Head thrown back as his hand forced out the last drops, foot sliding down along the wall from its hold.

Feeling light and happy, Duo reached out and helped Wufei down, swaying slightly as he got up to his feet.

Without thought his arms came up to wrap themselves around the other man, uncaring about the sticky mess that got smeared over his chest as he did so.

"I can't believe you thought I was dating Heero." He mumbled, closing his eyes to breathe in the musky smell of the terrarium and sex.

"I can't believe I held back despite that." Wufei panted against his ear, lips kissing his chin clumsily. "Hardest thing I have ever done since sending that letter."

For a second they just held each other before Wufei cursed and jerked away.

"What?" Duo questioned, fear freezing his heart. No. Please don't leave. Please don't leave. No. No. No.

"Fuck." Wufei groaned. "Dolly got out."

Duo went very still as one fear turned into another. "Who's Dolly." He asked stiffly, praying that it wasn't a snake.

"The big yellow snake." Wufei muttered as he stepped out, bending down carefully to look under a cabinet. "Come on pretty lady, where did you go?"

Duo bit back a terrified whimper and not even the sight of a well used hole dripping with his seed was enough to distract him.

Wufei glanced up and gave him a reassuring smile."Don't worry, she's not poisonous. She's anEunectes notaeus, an anaconda and they squeeze their food to death." Wufei said as he got up and found his pants, stepping into them with his eyes still searching the room.

Duo didn't find that very comforting as he imagined that slimy cold body sliding up his leg and curling itself around him. He shivered unhappily and watched the floor around him for gigantic killer snakes.

A female scream from the next room made the both of them jump

"Damn it." Wufei cursed angrily, pulling his pants up over his hips as he jumped over their discarded clothes and hurried towards the doorway.

Duo wondered how the screaming woman would react to being saved by a man only wearing a pair of unbuttoned pants and with sperm running down his chest. Should probably be amusing but he wasn't going out there until Wufei had caught the damned thing. No way in hell.

Duo took a step back into the terrarium and closed the glass door behind him. He was staying with the dead mice until Wufei had done his thing, because god knows what Dolly would do to him if she got a hold of him.

The End

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That was it for me today, please be a complete sweetheart and leave me a word about what you thought about the story. It will make me very happy if you do :)

_**Yisujung**_ -Thank you :) Nice of you to join us in the 2x5 swamp, I hope you enjoy your time here ;)_** HybridPlaything**_ - I hope you felt like Duo lived out your impulse and that you enjoyed his gotee worship. I'll let you know if I get any porn done :) **_P. Cythera_** - Thanks :) Don't you just feel Wufei's pain, he confesses his feelings and his crush doesn't even care. Poor thing, but I think I made up for it :D**_ W._** -_self ignites from compliment overload_- **_PhoenixMageFire_** - Wufei would be so very pretty in a goatee, I think we would all stand in line for a chance to pet it.**_ AliasPseudo_** - Thank you :) I'm glad you liked it, even it if was a AU ;) And about Trowa. I'm thinking he just infiltrated the robbers and took them out one by one with some smooth moves. Then he would be unimpressed by people trying to thank him for it.**_ Jazzy_** - I got you some more nervouse Duo, I hope you liked it :) Hopefully I will get a move on and you will be seeing more of me soon enough._** EbonyOsmosis**_ - Bowls are evil! Nice to have you with me on this :) I hope you enjoyed the "waking up to smell the bacon" moment._** roses in bloom**_ - LOL! Glad to hear it, there are so many plots bouncing around in here that it's a miracle I get anything done XD More is always to come.**_Suzuki123_** - Wufei and the fish store just felt natural, he just strikes me as a fish person. Someone who likes to sit and read while glancing up at the fishes every now and then. Then will go completely crazy when stupid people are taking care of their aquarium the wrong way.**_ Nav_** - You were right! XD Well done. Poor dumb Wufei.**_ LovelyRose5001_** - Thank you :D Hope you liked this chapter too.**_ Aykadil_** - LOL! I'm spreading the aquarium dreams. I'm waiting for my mother to clean her old one out and give it to me so I know how you feel :D**_ Chicookie_**- No reason to feel bad for them anymore :) They will now live happy ever after with all the fish and the snakes :)


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